The Directed Megaphone: A Theater Commander's Means to Communicate His Vision and Intent
Abstract
This monograph studies how a theater commander communicates his vision and intent throughout a complex, diverse, multilayered, and multicultural organization. The monograph first focuses on the theoretical underpinnings of communications in large organizations. This theoretical foundation is derived from military, management, and academic writings on the subject. Next, a model, based on this theory, is presented to illustrate the communication process for a theater commander. The model, entitled 'the directed megaphone,' captures the essence of theater-level communications. Then, the monograph analyzes a theater commander--Admiral Mountbatten in the South-East Asia Command during World War 11-and his communication methods, to determine the fidelity of the directed megaphone model. The monograph concludes that Admiral Mountbatten effectively used the directed megaphone to communicate his vision to a command operating in a most challenging theater of operations. The historic analysis demonstrates the essential requirement for a theater commander to have a communications strategy to analyze his command and its personalities, shape a message, and deliver the message by his words, actions, and character. The directed megaphone model provides a framework for further study of other theater commanders and a means for current commanders to create or review their communications strategy.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1993
- Accession Number
- ADA274117
Entities
People
- Arthur J. Athens
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College